basics

[morris minor]

hi can anyone tell me what are the basic ingredients required for making wines besides the fruit or juice eg. yeast, pectic enzyme, pectolase. I find that when I am about to start a wine I am missing something that is listed in recipe, as I live in a rural area I cannot just nip to a hbs as there is none so I have to order on line.

[grandmawoods]

Most of the recipes I follow usually call for acid of some sort and most always a yeast nutrient, and of course sugar.

[fatbloke]

hi can anyone tell me what are the basic ingredients required for making wines besides the fruit or juice eg. yeast, pectic enzyme, pectolase. I find that when I am about to start a wine I am missing something that is listed in recipe, as I live in a rural area I cannot just nip to a hbs as there is none so I have to order on line.

I'm not even sure that there is a complete basics list like that.

So, whether it's right or not might be debatable........

Main flavouring item..........

Depends on what that is, as to what else you might actually need..

Sugar

Sugar might be straight table sugar - though it (the recipe) might stipulate something more exact for flavouring reasons, like cane sugar, or demerara, or corn sugar (a.k.a. dextrose and/or glucose), or even honey - though with meads that might be the main flavouring so it might stipulate a certain type or it might be a sugar additive for melomels/pyments/cysers/metheglins etc

Yeast nutrient

It might be brand specific i.e. tronozymol, fermaid_k, etc or it might be more general. It may well say that you've to add other ingredients to act as nutrient for a specific flavouring

Yeast

What yeast are you going to use, you can spend a life time digging around to find specific brands or you can find out about certain types that are similar - for instance, there's a number of the Lalvin yeasts that are very good, but don't seem to be available generally in HBS, though some online HBS hold them (or Bob also keeps some of them some time)

Water

Tap, distilled, spring ?????

enzymes

Does your main flavouring need something to kill pectin ? Like maybe apples, or plums ? If so, then that'd be pectolase (some here abouts add it to everything just in case - apparently, if it's not actually needed to sort pectin and it's posible resultant hazes it can help with juice/flavour extraction). Likewise, is that main ingredient likely to have starch in it that also might cause hazing ? If so, then I believe it'd need amylase.

acid

Is the main ingredient acid enough ? or will it need some additional acid to reach a certain pH/TA level ? Now I don't know much about TA, but pH can be tested for with a pocket pH meter - about £20 or so, or just getting litmus paper strips to dip into the must that then change colour and the colour tells you what the pH is.

There are the 3 main acids, Tartaric, citric and malic. It's handy to have all 3 though you're still likely to use more tartaric and citric than malic - judging from the recipes I've read.


That list isn't exhaustive, there's probably many, many more items you could have as "store cupboard items", but it's a start.

dunno if that helps any or if it's even what you're looking to find out ? I'd guess it might be better to plan you wine making a bit more so you can get any items/ingredients that you don't have in, before you actually make the wine - which might mean that you'd need to get some additional freezer space, in case you're in an area where ingredients come up when you not necessarily expecting them i.e. something ripens and you have some freezer space to store some, but not always all the extra bits that might be needed to make a recipe.

regards

JtFB

[morris minor]

thanks ftb anymore suggestions folks just keep im comming I have now been granted a full section of a kitchen unit from the head ferretshe wants a tidy kitchen

[goldseal]

Finings: I have Kwik Clear and Bentonite in my cupboard. Kwik Clear works most of the time, but I have had one wine which Kwik Clear wouldn't clear but Bentonite would.

Potassium Metabisulphite: Used all the time, in 10% solution

Potassium Sorbate: used in conjunction with the above to stabilise after fermentation

Yeast: I'm sure someone with more experience than me can comment further, but I find Lalvin 71b-1122 (a.k.a. Gervin D) and Lalvin D47 (a.k.a. Gervin FF) is good for most jobs.

[fatbloke]

-----%<-----
Yeast: I'm sure someone with more experience than me can comment further, but I find Lalvin 71b-1122 (a.k.a. Gervin D) and Lalvin D47 (a.k.a. Gervin FF) is good for most jobs.

Don't forget the Lalvin RC 212 for anything red (but make sure the red stuffs' got plenty of nutrient, you don't want the rotten egg smell)

regards

JtFB

[goldseal]

Oh, and another thought. Not an ingredient as such but ...

Make sure you have a spare hydrometer. You are most likely to break one when you are using it, and that is the very time you need it!

[Her Lushness]

Oh, and another thought. Not an ingredient as such but ...

Make sure you have a spare hydrometer. You are most likely to break one when you are using it, and that is the very time you need it!

Too true! I broke one yesterday, but felt very smug as I just went to get another out of storage without me having to get grumpy coz the damm thing had snapped in two.